Bangalore:
The Karnataka High Court today adjourned to June 18, the anticipatory bail petitions filed by former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his family members in connection with the illegal mining case.
Justice Subhash B Adi adjourned further arguments the pleas filed by Yeddyurappa, his sons B Y Raghavendra, MP and B Y Vijendra and son-in-law R N Sohan Kumar until Monday.
C V Nagesh, senior counsel for Yeddyurappa, argued that the Central Empowered Committee report on illegal mining on the basis of which the Supreme Court directed CBI to probe the matter is "a carbon copy of the first complaint on illegal land denotification case filed by advocate Sirajin Basha in which he (Yeddyurappa) has already been granted anticipatory bail and regular bail".
When his client has been granted anticipatory and regular bail in the case on the basis of facts, the court cannot curtail his right to be granted the same in this case, Mr Nagesh said.
Mr Nagesh said after being granted bail in the complaint on November 8, 2011, there has been no violation of bail conditions whatsoever. The question of tampering with evidence did not arise as the complaint by Basha was not based on oral evidence but documentary evidence which has already been placed before the jurisdictional court.
To substantiate his argument, Mr Nagesh quoted the March 7 verdict by a Division Bench of the court whereby the FIR filed by Lokayukta police was quashed against Yeddyurappa in connection with the Lokayukta report on illegal mining and also sanction of Governor for initiating criminal proceedings against him.
Yeddyurappa moved the High court after the CBI court dismissed their anticipatory bail petitions in the case registered by CBI on directions from the Supreme Court.
Last month, the CBI registered the FIR against Yeddyurappa and others and raided their residential and other premises as part of the probe ordered by the Supreme Court on the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee set up by it to look into illegal mining.